Sealing/pouring combination with security seal

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a sealing/pouring combination with security seal, comprising a sealing cap piece ( 1 ), for mounting on a pouring piece ( 2 ) with a through passage ( 3 ) and for sealing the through passage, whereby the sealing cap piece has a cap circumferential wall ( 6 ) and complementary engaging means provided on the sealing cap piece and the pouring piece which come into engagement with each other during the assembly of the sealing cap piece on the pouring piece. The above prevents a movement of the sealing cap piece in a direction against that of the assembly direction. The engaging means on the cap are provided on at least one circumferential wall region ( 11 ), recessed in the circumferential wall of the sealing cap piece, connected to the cap circumferential wall with at least a pair of webs ( 12, 13 ) in the region of the circumferential ends thereof, of which at least one is embodied as a tear-off web ( 12 ). The engaging means further comprise a planar projection ( 10 ), provided on the recessed circumferential wall region ( 11 ), which may be brought to engage under an engaging connection ( 7 ) on the pouring piece.

The invention relates to a pour cap with a tamper indicator according to the introductory clause of claim 1.

A pour cap with a tamper indicator is known. In general the wall of a closure cap is formed with a tamper-indicating ring to which it is connected by frangible webs and which is formed with an undercut that is fitted with the neck region of a container when the cap is mounted on the neck of the container. The tamper-indicating ring forms in some known closure caps an axial extension of the cap wall, as in DE 1,955,047. In other known arrangements the tamper-indicating ring extends beyond the radial outer surface of the cap. In both cases there is the danger that during manufacture, transport, or automated fitting of the tamper-indicating ring to a container, it is separated from its cap by the forces acting on it and thus loses its tamper-indicating function, resulting in a high number of rejects for packaging reasons. A further disadvantage of the known systems is that the provision of the tamper-indicating ring uses up quite a bit of material and that, once it is separated, it leaves a relatively large piece behind or on the container. Finally, tamper-indicating rings, especially when they project radially past the cap, are unattractive. In response to this it has been suggested (German utility model 20 111 584) to build the tamper-indicating into the wall of the cap in that a barb engages in the container neck when the cap is screwed on to latch them together and thus engage with an abutment connected via frangible webs with the rest of the cap wall.

It is an object of the invention, starting from the tamper-indicating cap of German 20 111 584 to provide a cap that is easy to install with automatic equipment on a container neck and that is of simple manufacture.

This object is attained by the features of claim 1. As in above-cited DE 20 111 584 the tamper-indicating pour cap according to the invention does not have a tamper-indicating ring, since the tamper-indicating function is integrated into the wall of the cap, that is there is a limited cut-out wall part that can be separated by a predetermined force from the rest of the cap wall so as to eliminate a blocked condition between the wall part and the neck and allow the cap to be taken off the neck like a standard cap. The cut-out wall part is positioned, for esthetic reasons, in the plane of the cap wall edge and for this reason is not subjected to any particular forces during manufacture or transport of the cap that might separate the wall part from the rest of the cap wall. In order to improve this basic concept, the invention proposes that the neck have an annular retaining rim that is engageable with a flat projection of the cap in the latched position. Thus it is no longer necessary to orient the two interengaging formations axially and angularly with one another, since the projection can engage in any angular position to latch under the rim. This substantially simplifies mounting of the cap on the neck since there is no need to align the formations angularly with each other during assembly. Since the invention only requires that the container neck have a simple rim, not actual complex retaining formations, the manufacture of the bottle neck is simple and it can be made out of any material, for example even glass. In addition the appearance of the cap is improved in that the projection can be made so flat that it generally fills the cutout in the cap wall to the point of not being readily noticed and thus does not form an actual hole in the cap wall. The invention makes it possible to manufacture the cap and the container neck efficiently by injection molding with an appropriate plastic such as polyethylene, polystyrol, polypropylene, and the like and demolding the cap will not be complicated by the provision of a tamper-indicating ring. According to a further embodiment of the invention a two-part stabilizing system can be used in order to hold the cut-out wall part together in a predetermined position during assembly and to thus prevent damage to the webs during initial installation. Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in the claims.

The invention is more closely described in the following with reference to an embodiment. Therein:

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a tamper-indicating cap according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the cap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section of the entire cap assembly according to the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a large-scale sectional view of a detail of the tamper-indicating cap according to the invention.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION

In the following the terms “upper” and “lower” refer to the orientation of the tamper-indicating cap as shown in the drawing.

The tamper-indicating cap shown in the drawing is identified generally at. 1 and the container neck at 2. The neck 2 can be the mouth of a container, a separate welded-on part, or a wholly separate part.

The neck 2 has a generally tubular shape with a through going passage 3 that forms an inlet opening allowing access to the interior of a container. The neck 2 is provided with an external screwthread 4 that fits with a complementary internal screwthread 5 in a wall 6 of the cap 1 so that the cap 2 can be screwed onto the neck 2, which action seals the passage 3. The screwthread 5 can be continuous or have, as shown, discontinuous flights.

A rim 7 projects outwardly from the neck 2 level with a cutout 8 in the wall 6 of the cap 1, so that when the cap 1 is screwed all the way onto the neck 2 a portion of the rim 7 is exposed at the cutout 8 as shown in FIG. 4. The rim 7 has a radially or nearly radially extending lower engagement face 9 that can engage with a projection 10 carried on a part 11 cut out of the wall 6 of the cap 1 in order to prevent rotation of the cap 1 in the unscrewing direction.

The wall part 11 is formed unitarily with, relative to a screwing-on direction, leading and trailing webs 12 and 13 by means of which the wall part 11 is connected with adjacent regions of the cap wall 6. In addition the wall part 11 has a lower edge 14 that is level with a lower edge 15 of the cap wall 6. Alternatively the lower edge 14 can be recessed in the wall 6.

One of the webs 12 or 13, namely the web 12 that leads in the screwing-on direction, is so constructed that when stressed beyond a predetermined limit it breaks so that the wall part 11 in this location loses it connection with the cap wall 6 and no longer locks the rim 7 on the neck 2 to the projection 10. If desired, several such webs 12 can be provided.

The other web 13 that trails the wall part 11 can be constructed so that the stresses encountered in normal use are not sufficient to break it and the wall part 11 remains connected at its trailing end with the cap wall 6. Instead, the wall part 11 can bend outward about the web 13 in order to completely free the projection 10 from the rim 7 when the web 12 is broken through. The wall part 11 partially freed from the cap wall 6 remains on the cap 1 without presenting an environmental problem. It is however also possible to make the web 13 frangible. In this case the wall part 11 is completely broken off the cap wall 6.

The wall part 11 has as shown in FIG. 1 preferably a generally rectangular shape. It is delimited at its lower axial end by the lower edge 14 and on its upper axial end by an upper edge 16 that, like the lower edge 14, extends angularly. The upper edge 16 is connected with the projection 10 via a reduced-thickness connecting web 17 that makes it possible for the projection 10 to be deformed elastically outward when it is upwardly engaged by the rim 7 so that the projection 10 can pass the rim 7 when the cap 7 is screwed on without tearing the web 12. Nonetheless the connecting web 17 is sufficiently strong that the projection 10 will push upward against the lower face 9 of the rim 7 without, folding over when an axially opposite force is exerted on it.

The projection 10 is elongated somewhat angularly parallel to the upper edge 16 of the wall part 11 or, if desired, can be shorter than it. An upper edge of the projection 10 has a face 18 that is flat and that extends parallel to the lower face 9 of the rim 7 so as to flatly engage same. On the other hand a lower face 19 of the projection 10 forms an angled slide face so that the projection 10 can slide over the rim 7 when the cap 1 is screwed onto the neck 1, the lower face 19 extending in the normal rest position of the projection 10 upwardly and inwardly at an angle.

The wall part 11 is formed near its upper edge with an angularly extending and outwardly projecting reinforcing rib 20 that can fit with a complementary elongated groove or jaw of a holding tool of an automatic (unillustrated) screwing-on device in order to support the wall part 11 radially when screwing it on so that it is not pushed radially outward too much and the web 12 is not prematurely broken. Other similar stabilizing means can also be provided.

Although the invention is described above with respect to only a single wall part 11 in a cap wall 6 with a projection 10, two or more such wall parts with projections can be provided, angularly equispaced. FIG. 3 shows a pair of wall parts 11 with projections 10 diametrally opposite each other. In addition to the nonfrangible trailing web, a further web can be provided parallel to it near the upper edge as shown at 21 in FIG. 1. The web 21 also serves to stabilize the wall part 11.

The wall part 11 that is unitary with the wall 6 of the cap 1 forms a tamper indicator that shows the end user clearly that there has been no manipulation of the cap 1 so long as the connection between the wall part 11 and the cap wall 6 is intact.

Although the screw mount provided in the illustrated embodiment of the invention is used on a pourer, the invention is not restricted to such a mount. It can also be used on a push-on or force fit. The projection and/or the wall part carrying it can be, if desired, so flat that when seen from the side the recess in the cap wall is almost filled in order to improve the appearance of the cap. 

1-8. (canceled)
 9. A tamper-indicating pour-cap assembly comprising: a container neck centered on an axis and forming an axially upwardly open passage; a radially outwardly projecting rim formed on the neck and having an annular lower rim face; a cap having an annular wall fitted over the neck in an installed position and formed with a radially through going cutout generally level with the rim in the installed position; a wall part in the cutout formed with a projection extending radially inward and bearing upward in the installed position on the lower rim face; and a leading web and a trailing web flanking the wall part, extending angularly between the wall part and the wall, unitary with the wall part and wall, and supporting the wall part in the cutout, one of the webs being frangible.
 10. The tamper-indicating pour-cap assembly defined in claim 9 wherein the projection is of generally the same angular length as the wall part.
 11. The tamper-indicating pour-cap assembly defined in claim 9 wherein both webs are frangible.
 12. The tamper-indicating pour-cap assembly defined in claim 9 wherein the other of the webs is not frangible.
 13. The tamper-indicating pour-cap assembly defined in claim 9 wherein the cutout is axially downwardly open and the wall and the wall part have lower edges that are generally level with each other.
 14. The tamper-indicating pour-cap assembly defined in claim 9, further comprising a flexible web connecting the projection to the wall part.
 15. The tamper-indicating pour-cap assembly defined in claim 9 wherein the projection has an upper face generally perpendicular to the axis and bearing in surface contact with the rim face in the installed position and a lower face extending inward and upward at an acute angle to the axis.
 16. The tamper-indicating pour-cap assembly defined in claim 9 wherein the wall part is formed with a stabilizing formation adapted to fit with an installing tool for fitting the cap to the neck in the installed position. 